Some kids get in trouble just because they’re known as troublemakers. Once you’ve got a reputation, it can follow you all over school.

Like in this story, when a hyperactive student was willing to serve his time when he deserved it… but not when he didn’t.

However, even when he did deserve it, he knew how to get out of doing what the teacher said due to a clever use of his special ed IEP.

Let’s see what mischief he was making.

How I got a teacher to write 100 lines for me.

OK, quick preface, I’m in my 30’s. I went to highschool in the 90’s, and schools had a very different climate back then.

I was in special ed. Not from any disability, but due to extreme hyperactivity (and I mean extreme).

He was doing much better by high school.

Though I was pretty much over the hyperactivity by the time I hit high school, it’s not easy to get out of special ed.

By this point though I was in 100% regular classes, and just had one ‘class’ a day, instead of a study hall, with a special ed teacher, who was basically there to help me if I needed help with any of my schoolwork.

Because I was in special ed, I had what was called an IEP (no idea what it’s an acronym for), which was basically just a list of learning aids I could use if I needed them, things like extended time on tests.

But he didn’t use the learning aids.

I never actually used any of them, but I always had the option.

One day another kid did something, I got blamed and sent to detention.

Now…

Like I said, I was a hyperactive kid, and ended up getting detention in school a LOT, but… I was also very headstrong…

He seems pretty self aware.

If I felt that I had done something wrong, I’d accept whatever punishment without complaint (which, to be fair, happened pretty frequently, lol).

But if I felt I was being punished unjustly… Well I usually ended up raising enough stink to warrant a real punishment, lol.

So I get in detention with a teacher I’d never seen before, and for the first time in my life I had a teacher tell me to write lines… (a punishment which I thought had died with the 70’s).

Time to turn to those IEP learning aids for help.

Remember those aids I had access to but never used? 🙂

So I say, “OK, I just need to use computer transcription from my IEP, so I’ll do the lines on the computer.”

I proceeded to type out the line once, copy it, paste it 100 times, look over at the teacher and say, “Done.”

I was a fast typer back then, 130 WPM fast (you’d be surprised what hyperactivity can be channeled into), so this was all of 20 seconds after I sat down at the computer.

The teacher was not on board with this tactic.

Teacher…. wasn’t exactly happy with that, refused to accept it, and told me I’d have to do it by hand, she wouldn’t let me use the computer for this.

Now understand, a teacher could decide not to accept one item from an IEP for a given assignment (within reason, and with cause), but they can NOT, by law, deny multiple things meant to address the same issue.

OP tried another approach.

In my case, I had… ok have… barely legible handwriting, so I had multiple options to allow me to not hand-write my assignments.

If requested, they HAVE to make accommodations for said aids.

Me: “OK, I’ll use dictation from my IEP then.”

Teacher: “…Meaning?”

The punishment really backfired on the teacher!

Me: “I say the line verbally, and a staff member writes it down for me… and it looks like you’re the only staff member here!”

And that’s how I got a teacher to write 100 lines for me.

I actually have to give it to her for sticking it out and writing all 100 lines, rather than dropping the assignment entirely, lol.

Yeah, gotta hand it to the teacher. And the kid.

What do the comments on Reddit say?

One person has a dictionary definition.

Someone else says they didn’t get so lucky.

Another person says ADHD can work in your favor.

One poster had a simpler way to deal with unwanted tasks.

Someone else says, hyperactivity is also contradictory sometimes.

An IEP is worth a hundred words.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.